Northern Ireland technology company arc-net has secured an important contract linked to an innovative new Australian whisky called The Brisbane.

The Belfast-headquartered company is providing the Blockchain platform and support to help demonstrate the provenance and authenticity of the product.

The arc-net Blockchain is a secure, immutable, distributed ledger that delivers product authentication, supply-chain transparency and provides a platform to support a connected community of growers, producers, retailers and consumers. As a result, brands and product owners are able to communicate the story and uniqueness behind their brand.

arc-net, which operates from offices in Belfast and Edinburgh, is a leading blockchain technology provider that offers traceability and product origin solutions for companies within the food and drink sector.

The new Whisky is a pioneering fusion of Scotch and Australian whisky created by the award-winning team of Fusion Whisky and Adelphi. It is called The Brisbane, in honour of the Scot who founded the great Australian city.

Kieran Kelly of arc-netsaid: “Our aim is to establish the global standard in product and supply-chain transparency, authentication and security, providing the consumer with 100% traceability, provenance and product authenticity. The arc-net platform offers both brand and product protection and provides brands with a voice on the global stage. All the team at arc-net are very proud to be the first company to use Blockchain technology with a whisky, especially one that is itself pioneering and honours a great champion of science.”

The whisky companies’ latest creation – The Brisbane, is a pioneering fusion of Scotch from Glen Garioch and Glen Grant distilleries and a five-year-old Australian whisky, which is named in honour of the Scot who founded the great Australian city. It is the fourth international blend to come from the award-winning team of Fusion Whisky and Adelphi. Fusion Whisky said it has followed Adelphi’s pioneering work with the use of Blockchain technology to demonstrate The Brisbane’s provenance and complex production history.

Adelphi’s managing director and master blender Alex Bruce said “We believe never before has someone taken Scotch and paired it with Australian whisky to create something as wonderfully unique and compelling as The Brisbane.”

Fusion Whisky first partnered with Adelphi Distillery to produce a series of international blends using Scotch and world whisky, launching The Glover in 2015, and following up with The E&K and The Winter Queen, which achieved recognition in the Scotland Food and Drink Awards 2017.

Mr Bruce added: “Done with care and creativity, blending high quality whiskies from different maturation climates can result in some captivating and utterly unique whiskies.

“Like our previous whiskies, we are extremely excited to be able to take these whiskies and share them with whisky lovers who will be able to appreciate the complex flavours and extraordinary effort to create these extraordinary whiskies.”

arc-net was founded by Northern Ireland entrepreneur Kieran Kelly. The fast-growing company employs people across offices in Belfast and Edinburgh. Last year, arc-net announced a significant investment in the company by Dr Richard Steeves, a leading investor and former EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year. For more information on arc-net go to www.arc-net.io